AOL (TWX): Live Layoff Coverage

Notes and tidbits as we get them...100% of the Work With 70% of the People?

"One could tell at a glance
on Tuesday at Dulles who got laid off: The newly-unemployed all had
relieved expressions on their faces, while the "survivors" looked like
shellshocked refugees walking out of the smoke at the end of a war
movie. As one manager said to me, "If you can figure out the algorithm
they used to generate the firing list, you'll be one up on the rest of
us."

"Whole teams were just slashed to ribbons--one team who Cahill had
just praised in a recent managers meeting lost half its members and its
manager; one VP lost over 38% of his employees. Pretty much anybody who
worked on back-end systems was vulnerable, a vast change from previous
layoffs where Ops folks were only a small percentage of the overall
cuts. I overheard a survivor telling his significant other on the
phone, "I've never seen so many goodbye letters in my whole life."
Another survivor suggested that someone should put "RMS Titanic" signs
on the doors. It's an apt analogy.

I found myself pitying anybody left behind after this layoff. A
friend told me later that his management is trying desperately to
figure out how much of their previous responsibilities they can
continue to maintain after a 38 percent across-the-board cut. Another
friend said that his management essentially told him to focus on one or
two high-profile tasks and ignore pretty much everything else, because
there was no way a team that had lost almost 40% of its personnel could
possibly continue supporting its previous load. Several teams were
panicking about databases that had no administrators after the layoffs,
as well as worrying about reporting analysis tools whose programmers
had been let go, leaving no one in a position to support the tools if
anything went wrong." More...

---JUMP---

AOL France Bids AOL Adieu (Password "aollover")

This
is simply not to be missed. I've watched it three times now, and I'm
still smiling. My wife, a film PhD, notes with admiration that it is a
single shot. Will someone hire these people, please? They're awesome.

"synopsis: AOL office in Paris. starts with "to a lost love". people
show their affection for AOL. but in the end, it shows a sign "2000
square meters to let"...

Bill Wilson Thanks Dearly Departed For Raising Margin 20 Points

"All of Bill Wilson's org had team
meetings today where they got the rah-rah speech from Bill, justifying
the layoffs to say that before his group was at a sub 10% profit
margin, and this release brings it up to about 30%. The most cheesy part of the meeting was where Bill, instead of just
saying how much people would be missed, actually 'thanked' all the
people that were let go, literally saying "I want to THANK all the
people who are gone. .".

It was just weird since all the people gone are, ya know, GONE!"

Kim Partoll's Mysterious New Gig (and Colleagues)

"Kim Partoll leads up Access (Todd is heading it up) and New Ventures ( Michael Murray is heading that up)"

Legal Clobbered

"FYI: Legal lost 10 - some of whom deserved it, and many of whom that
didn't, because they worked their ass off and were actually good lawyers."International Reaper Cometh

"Carl Miller, who was one of the most important persons for
International relations was let go today. So apparently some
International branches will be hit soon."

Koo Here, Appelman Gone

"Norman Koo is still an active employee. Appelman's not active."

Cahill Karma Gone To Hell?

"My friend and I saw Ted Cahill drive his silver Corvette too quickly
into a parking space and crunch his low fender on the curb."

Haiku Kid Among the Whacked

"Haiku Kid is gone from AOL. Thank you everyone." [Here's a memorial link to some of the Kid's impressive oeuvre.]

Why Wait for Old Dominion?

"I wasn't shocked that
I was laid off as I was recently hired 2 months ago and ended up
getting 6 months of severance. A lot of people were being herded to
and from conference rooms
getting wacked. Lots of crying and people cracking open wine and beers
in the hallways."

Dear Steve Ballmer...

"I suspect that the very high level the plan is to bag the whole
internet portal idea, spin off the advertising company, and find
someone to sell the access business to (a low development cost cash
cow). I looks to me that in the end all product development will be
done in India, with an emphasis on cheap sustaining engineering. I'm
guessing that only reason that some US development teams were
retained is to sweeten the pot in the unlikely case that a buyer can be
found for the portal business. "Help me Obi Wan Steve Balmer, you are
my only hope"

Another Bummer: We Were Overpaid

"I'm now concerned for those who are now hitting the job market.
Considering the crap that people have to endure to work at AOL, the
salary tended to be a bit over-market. Now take your over-market salary
expectations and your pink slip and try to find a new gig at equal pay.
If you're in that position, you should seriously do some math to weigh
a lower offer against sitting on the sidelines waiting for that last
20-30K you might have to give up to get back to work sooner versus
later."
WaPo: Blue Folders, Old Dominion, Simpson and Burns

"AOL employees clutching navy-blue folders stuffed
with severance package information started walking out of the company's
Dulles campus gates at about noon yesterday. Some said they were in
good spirits; others said they were still in
shock from the recent round of layoffs, which affected 2,000 employees
worldwide, or 20 percent of the company's workforce. Others angrily
trudged toward their cars...

"Throughout the afternoon, former employees met up at such Loudoun Country bars as Old Dominion
Brewpub and Clyde's. Blogs were bombarded with manifestos, disheartened
comments, and T-shirt designs characterizing AOL chief executive Randy
Falco and president and chief operating officer Ron Grant as "Simpsons"
cartoon characters.

"One employee who escaped the cuts said the mood until yesterday
had been optimistic, particularly with the announcement of the
company's move to New York. "We were hopeful that things wouldn't
change, but here we are," said the employee, who also spoke on
condition of anonymity."

Search Whacked

"Search was hit. About 15 people or
so. Goodbye people - management can KMA. Waiting for them to cut bill
willson and fred mcintyre.
thats when some good will come out of this."Not Bad, All Things Considered

"On the whole I thought
the process worked pretty well although it took a friggin' age to get
processed out at the end. I got to be processed out by a friend of mine
though so it was a nice chat. My SVP and the HR folks were respectful
and almost everyone I saw knew what was coming. Nice afternoon drinking
the sunny afternoon away at Clyde's, too - thanks, Mark! Not bad,
although it ended a streak of surviving almost 20 rounds of layoffs in
my career. On to bigger & better things!"

My Director Kept Her Pets, Axed Me With a Lie and a Smile

My
department lost folks the Director had issues with -- and not the
least worthy employees. It's all about being someones favorite at AOL.
It's not about the hard, creative work you do. My director lied to my
face when she read the 'you're fired' script. They she acted like she
was my best friend.

Video: Toast

"Yeah, so the entire AOL Video team got the axe. So much for a successful "portal". ROFL"Legal and HR--Got Off Scott Free!

"Legal didn't lose many if at all any. The two safest departments to be
in at AOL are Legal and HR. Always amazing. The inmates are definitely
running the asylum."

No, HR Got Whacked, Too

"I wouldn't say that HR is safe... I've heard that EVERYONE in HR is
gone. That they will be outsourcing. How the hell do you do that with
HR?"

"Regarding Legal and HR... I heard from my director that the axe would
be dropping tomorrow for them... they were needed today to supervise
the "Special Purpose Rooms."

And So Did Legal

"The information posted earlier about the Legal department was
incorrect. A number of attorneys and paraprofessionals were let go."

Goodbye, Kids

"KOL and RED are done. A few people kept on in "transition" until
December, then just one person will be kept on to keep the lights on
inside the hollow shell of these once-robust programming offerings."

Layoff Day and You Still Can't Find a Place to Park

"Plenty of talented and motivated folks were packing their desk when
I arrived. Parking garages were fuller than ever. I actually had to
park on the third level. Security was beefed up. No Loudoun County
Sheriff presence from my
observation. I'm sure secret service filled in for them, though."

You're Firing Me? Who Are You?

"Well our manager in CC6 today didn't even have the balls to show up
for our script or to even say goodbye, he let the director come in to
do his dirty work for him."

Normally I'd agree with you, but from what I can tell they weren't
letting lower-level managers deliver the news this time. My poor boss
who's relatively new to the company apologized directly that I was
having to hear the news from our VP who otherwise never gives us the
time of day.

To Get Laid Off, Press One

"In NYC, Moviefone and AOL Music also took hits. Seems that Programming as a whole was hit pretty hard."

Tucson a Ghost Town

"Tucson has also been decimated, all that remains is a handful of folks
not cut that will pick up the pieces. Wonder if they will insult those
that remain by playing off that all is OK and there employment is
indefinite or if they will shoot straight and give a final separation
date?"

Goodbye Columbus

"Core Services was hit pretty hard today (especially former BT
teams and remote people). Columbus [a.k.a., Compuserve] was decimated.
And, of course, do they tell us to go home for the day so those
people laid off can pack up in peace? Of course not. Back to work. Chop
chop."

Sign on "Special Purpose Room" (a.k.a., firing chamber) Door

This
sign is on the conference room doors. The Source also reports that the
conference room tables were covered in little packets of Kleenex.

Moncton Hit Hard

Showed up to work at AOL in Moncton this morning, to find 25
security guards. AOL has decided to axe all positions for their US Win
Tech queue.
(For those of you in the US, when you were speaking to a technician if
you use AOL, and they were in Canada - you were likely talking to one
of us.) Effective 30 Nov 07, the Moncton center will no longer be in
operation for the "US Business". In total, about 140 technicians will
be cut, as well as management
and support staff. Overall count for Moncton is approx 175 people as of
30 Nov 07.

This is the standard email
received by those who will be laid off. Except for the time and
location specified, it is identical to the one I received during last
year's festivities. The mail typically goes out around 4:45PM the night
before the action, so those impacted will know it is coming. It's no
secret what the "meeting" is about. What is interesting is the location
- third floor conference room in Creative Center 5. I know an awful lot
of people who work in CC5, and am concerned for them all.

Since so many people will be impacted, the "meetings" are scheduled
for small groups in different conference rooms every hour or so, until
the bloodletting is finished. Each group will receive a canned speech
from their VP, then a brief summary of their separation package from an
HR representative, and have the opportunity to ask any questions they
may have. I remember during my group's "presentation," we were laughing
and having a good time before the VP and HR rep showed up. They were
the nervous ones. We all knew the axe had fallen, and in a way, that
made it a little easier to handle. It was ironic, though, that this was
the first meeting attended by a VP in the decade I was with AOL that
wasn't catered. Go figure.